Burma lets neighbours help out

Southeast Asian nations will take the lead in an international aid effort for cyclone-hit Burma.

By:Christopher JohnsonSpecial to the Star, Published on Tue May 20 2008

MAE SOT, Thailand–Southeast Asian nations will take the lead in an international aid effort for cyclone-hit Burma.

The move drew praise from relief workers and criticism from regional observers who accuse the regional grouping, ASEAN, of appeasing the ruling military junta in order to make business deals in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

Under the deal reached yesterday, Western relief workers will not be given unfettered access to disaster areas, Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo said.

"We will establish a mechanism so that aid from all over the world can flow into Myanmar," Yeo said, after hosting an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to prod the generals to accept large-scale foreign aid and expertise for up to 2.4 million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis.

The details were to be worked out with the United Nations, which announced last night that a donor conference would be held in the cyclone-hit former capital, Rangoon, also known as Yangon, next Sunday.

Burma agreed to accept nearly 300 medical personnel from its ASEAN neighbours, the foreign ministers said in a statement.

The junta also approved a visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, while claiming that losses from the May 2-3 disaster exceeded $10 billion. Ban will visit Burma tomorrow, and plans to visit the Irrawaddy delta area which was hit hardest by Nargis, his spokesperson Michele Montas said.

A three-day official period of mourning began today for the dead, which numbered more than 78,000, according to official figures. Another 56,000 people are missing.

Conditions in the low-lying Irrawaddy delta remain precarious for survivors, who face disease, malnutrition and exposure to the elements. Heavy rain fell again yesterday, said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, noting that such weather can have the benefit of providing clean water for those able to catch the downpour with plastic sheeting. Aid organizations, such as Save the Children, say ASEAN's dialogue is better than the threat of Western navies bringing in supplies by helicopters and speedboats without Burma's consent.

"We're not going to criticize people (such as ASEAN foreign ministers) for trying. Anyone that is trying to talk this through gets our support," said Dominic Nutt, spokesperson in London for Save the Children.

"Anyone in an international organization would be concerned about the threat of violence. Force and humanitarian work don't mix."

Yet long-time observers and key players in the region question if ASEAN's rhetoric will result in getting food and shelter to some of the cyclone victims.

David Tharkabaw, secretary general of the Thailand-based Karen National Union, which has fought an insurgency against the Burmese government for 60 years, says the junta will dupe the UN leaders by flying them over "showcase" areas while hiding the reality on the ground, where he says Karen ethnic minorities comprise more than half the victims.

He said "appeasing" the regime doesn't work.

"It gets more arrogant. It gets more self-confident."

Nyo Myint, of the National League for Democracy led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, said ASEAN should seize the "window of opportunity" for a compromise between his party, which won the 1990 election, and the generals who ignored the results.

"This is the right time to interfere politically with Burma," he said.

In France yesterday, five Burmese monks marched through the Cannes Film Festival crowd to demand the nation's junta allow foreign aid workers into the country to help cyclone victims.

"This is a humanitarian crisis – we need help," said U Uttara, an exiled monk.

Other activities in Cannes included speeches and the screening of a short film shot in Burma, called Freedom from Fear.